Re|Train - Disciple

I figured this blog would be a good place to give my re-cap of ReTrain as I move through the program and share what the Lord is teaching me through the process. It lets others in on the main ideas and highlights and keeps me accountable to actually do something with what I’m learning... so here goes.

This first leg of the course was titled “Disciple” and was taught by Pastor Bill Clem from Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Pastor Bill has taught this class the previous 2 years here at ReTrain and out of that has come a helpful BOOK with the same title as the course. In prep for the class I felt as if I wasn’t learning these new and revolutionary ideas but rather there was a stripping away of some of the secondary issues that surround what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and getting to the core idea that a disciple of Jesus is one who gets his identity from Jesus. This shaped the approach to the whole week. Pastor Bill masterfully shepherded the students (about 120 of us) through what it means to be a Disciple.

I was able to connect with a group of guys who will make up the corhort of which I am a part for the duration of ReTrain... the Wallingford Lead Pastor’s Cohort! Its a mix of guys from Mars Hill, a couple of Acts29 guys and a bunch of guys from different backgrounds all seeking to be equipped to serve the flock to which God has called them! They are a great group of guys and I am very much looking forward to getting to know them better as we wrestle through ReTrain over the course of the coming 10 months!

Big Take-Away...
As part of our time this month we were trained in “Gospel Coach”... a process developed to help church leaders to really shepherd the flock of God...

As part of that training we got some time to practice coaching and digging into each others lives. I worked with a guy named Brandon from my cohort who took his turn in “coaching” me. Brandon is a pastor of a church in Northwest Washington and we paired up for this exercise. He was gracious and direct and about 20 minutes into our practice, empowerd by the Holy Spirit, he landed a very well-placed left-hook on my pride:

“Perhaps your heart isn’t as inclined to Jesus as you think...”

You see as we were talking about things that I feel that I struggle with I wanted to talk about how I felt inconsistent in the different areas of my life that require discipline. If my discipline is moved or directed by anything other than a pure affection for Christ then it becomes a burden and then I am prone to justify myself and take the easy path or neglect that area needing discipline entirely.

In that moment I had the option to push back and say, “well... its not that bad.” or “I don’t know if I would say that...” but the reality was plain as day... as much as I do love Christ and desire to know Him and worship Him, my affection for him gets crowded out by my love for myself far too often.

It was a great picture of “iron sharpening iron” and my hope is that this would be normative for our cohort as we traverse this material through ReTrain.

I was blessed by my cohort and on top of that I am rooming with a great guy named Paul from Squamish, British Columbia (Eh?) and we are hosted by a GREAT family (Rick & Elizabeth James) who are expecting their first child in January and attend Mars Hill at Shoreline.

Please pray for Rick and Elizabeth as they prepare for baby & pray for my new friend Brandon, his family, and his church (Brier Church).

Overall... great, fun experience and very challenging to both my head and my heart... now to do my homework...

JP

We need the Gospel Every Day

Another reminder that the Gospel isn't something we hear and respond to once to get saved and them move away from it. We need it... I need it every day. Apparently Martin Luther needed it too...

"I myself have been preaching and cultivating [the Gospel of grace] through reading and writing for almost twenty years and still feel the old clinging dirt of wanting to deal so with God that I may contribute something so that He will give me His grace in exchange for my holiness." - Luther (Commentary on Galatians - as quoted by Scott Thomas in his book Gospel Coach.

Preach the Gospel to yourself.

"... we can say that the Gospel is just for non-Christians who don't know Jesus yet, and they need the Gospel. But for me, for us, those that are Christians, we need the Gospel every day." - Andrew Loewen [emphasis mine]

Worship Theology - "Absent from Flesh" (and a rant about christian music)

If you are around River City it might seem that we have some sort of fascination with Sojourn music. In fact... we do. Sojourn (Louisville, KY) has done a great job reviving some great hymn texts with really excellent music!

Tangent/Soap box: If you've spent any time with me you know that sometimes I can be a bit critical... and you may have heard that criticism leveled at the current crop of Christian music and worship songs out there. I think that we too often promote some (most) of the music on Christian radio as the next best song because the lyrics say something inspirational or mildly relating to Jesus or God or something close... when in reality it is not that great (either lyrically or musically) and comes across as a bad knock-off of the Top 40 Pop music we have to endure on the radio... My hope would be that we would, out of devotion to Christ because of His accomplished work on our behalf, strive to do everything (sing, write songs, mop floors, fulfill our callings) to God's glory and not because autotune on 20-something female singers with quasi-dance beats is IN now so we should sing about Jesus to those same dance beats and call it "good" music, art, whatever. It smacks of a worldly perspective on our lives as followers of Jesus instead of an eternal perspective (Col 3:1-4) ... and reminds me of a line from Norm MacDonald when he was once hosting SNL's Weekend Update,

"Kenny G announced today that he'll be releasing a new Christmas CD. Happy Birthday, Jesus. Hope you like crap!"

**(my appolgies to Kenny G... and my mom... because I think she owns that Kenny G. Christmas CD)

So... where was I? Oh yes... that is why I so MUCH enjoy what I'm hearing out of Sojourn, and a number of other folks who are incorporating rich Biblical theology with very compelling music (folks like Bifrost Arts, Indelible Grace, as well as a number of churches who are writing and arranging their own music... some of which can be found on NoiseTrade for download)!

Ok... on with the Song - Absent from Flesh

Written by Isaac Watts and revised/arranged By Jamie Barnes

Absent from flesh, O blissful thought

What joy this moment brings

Freed from the blame my sin has brought,

From pain and death and its sting.

Absent from flesh, O Glorious day!

In one triumphant stroke

My reckoning paid, my charges dropped

and the bonds 'round my hands are broke.

CHORUS:

I go where God and glory shine,

To one eternal day

This failing body I now resign,

For the angels point my way.

For the angels point my way.

Absent from flesh! then rise, my soul,

Where feet nor wings could climb,

Beyond the sky, where planets roll,

And beyond all keep of time.

CCLI Song #5918890 CCLI License #1888971 © Sojourn Community Church

I think this is a great song of celebration for what Christ has done in making us new creations IN Him! Now... Watts, as a hymn writer is poetic in his word choice and, in a few places, isn't the most clearly understood theologically. There are two areas where people have asked questions about this song and I'd like to address them.

1 - in all the language about being absent from flesh are we saying that the mortal/created world is bad and only the spirit/immaterial is good? Isn't that gnosticism?

2 - what the HECK does it mean that the angels are "pointing my way" to glory? Where does it say THAT in the Bible?

Good questions...

1 - Revised gnosticism?

One of gnosticism's main ideas is that the material world is bad and the way of salvation from the material is some from of esoteric or intuitive knowledge or understanding of self, god, or the universe. That is FALSE teaching... AND that is NOT what Paul is saying when he talks about denying the flesh (or, what Watts is referring to here in this hymn text). Romans 7 is a great reminder that our flesh, even as Christians, is at war with sin even while we are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit in Christ. Not only that Paul realizes that although God created everything (1 John 1:1-3) and that it was created good (Gen. 1), it is marred by sin (Romans 8:20-22) and that while God's creation is glorious and bears his marks it is only temporal now... and thus the present sufferings are not worth comparing to the Glory that will appear at the consummation of all things (Romans 8:18)! So we are then able to resign our mortal bodies and all their failings in hope of life NOW in Christ and the life to come in Glory! It is, I think, a very hopeful part of the song and encouraged me when I feel tired, broken, and weak.

2 - What about all this angel talk?

The Bible tells us some things about angels (they are God's servants - Luke 4:10, they are God's messengers - Luke 1:11-13; 26-33 & Luke 2:9-12, and they are worshippers and heralds - Rev. 5:11-14, Revelation 21 & 22). Now, we need to be carful to not attribute things to angels or our experience that aren't in the Scriptures as Truth without discernment... so, we are not building a theology that Angels literally stand and point to heaven in front of us. BUT, as we read in Revelation 21 & 22, John is being directed, by an angel to behold the glory that is the New Heavens and the New Earth and God unveiling His glory and making all things fully new! So, the use of poetic license to paint a picture of that final and glorious day is, I think, allowable and, in fact, aligns well with the picture of John's Revelation inspired by the Holy Spirit to be written into the Scriptures!

What this DOES mean is that perhaps it would helpful (and I should do this more often anyway) if I took a little more time to explain some of the songs we sing when we gather for corporate worship. If I take my responsibilities seriously... which I do... as a teacher of God's Word (even in song) then it is incumbent upon me to make sure I am truly helping those whom God has placed in my care hear and understand, by the power of the Holy Spirit, who it is that we are worshipping and, in this case, truly understand the glorious picture of the already/not yet... that as we wrestle against our flesh (and we should) we can also rest in God's finished work in Christ... already accomplished... not yet fully revealed... but it will be one day when Jesus returns in all His glory to claim those who belong to the Father! Good stuff.

JP